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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28437585">Mistletoe</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenThayet/pseuds/QueenThayet'>QueenThayet</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Inception (2010)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Christmas, Fluff, M/M, Specificity, Tea and Knitting</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 20:49:17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>716</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28437585</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenThayet/pseuds/QueenThayet</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A short holiday fluff fic set in the Tea and Knitting world</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Arthur/Eames (Inception)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Secret Saito 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Mistletoe</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/walkonmemories/gifts">walkonmemories</a>.</li>


        <li>
            Inspired by

            <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/6504616">Specificity</a> by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/swtalmnd/pseuds/swtalmnd">swtalmnd</a>.
        </li>

    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Happy Holidays, walkonmemories! I hope you enjoy this!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Darling!” Eames exclaimed as Arthur came over with a fresh pot of tea for him. “I’ve had the most brilliant idea for Christmas!”</p><p>“Yes?” Arthur said warily. </p><p>“Mistletoe tea, for the holidays!”</p><p>Arthur looked at Eames, raised his eyebrows and gave a single laugh, before walking back to the counter, shaking his head. </p><p>“Oi, it’s not that out there! You use pine needles in some of your blends,” Eames protested. “Tadashi, tell Arthur that it’s not a totally ridiculous idea!”</p><p>Tadashi gave a small smile and shook their head before saying, “I thought you had learned to leave the tea-making to Arthur-sensai.” </p><p>Eames gave a mock glare in Tadashi’s direction before flapping his hand in dismissal. The shop was mostly quiet, so Eames let it go for the moment. When their friends began coming in, Eames canvassed them for support. </p><p>“Ariadne, you’ll support me in this,” Eames said. “Wouldn’t mistletoe tea be a brilliant idea?”</p><p>Ariadne scrunched her nose up and said, “I don’t think so. Can you even eat mistletoe?”</p><p>“Arthur uses plenty of things to add flavor that you wouldn’t want to eat, but make brilliant tea blends,” Eames said, dismissing her concerns and turning to his next potential ally.</p><p>“Robert, come on, mate, give me some support here. I think mistletoe would be festive in a holiday blend, but Arthur laughed at me.”</p><p>Robert shook his head and looked over at Arthur, “Sorry, I don’t know anything about tea, just that I like what Arthur makes and I’m not willing to jeopardize that.” </p><p>Eames set aside the sweater he was knitting and began casting on a sock as he pouted over the lack of support for his idea. The more it got shot down, the more it made him feel like he had to convince Arthur to try it.</p><p>Saito came by that afternoon for his pot of green tea, which Tadashi expertly prepared and served. </p><p>“Saito,” Eames said, “you’re a business genius, tell Arthur that a mistletoe tea blend for Christmas is a great idea.” </p><p>“Mistletoe tea?” Saito responded, taking a delicate sip of his green tea. Eames nodded, encouraged by not getting immediately rejected. “That seems… unwise. A very limited customer base, and a lot of potential liability.” </p><p>Eames continued knitting until Yusuf came in that evening for his nightly chai. </p><p>“Yusuf, you’re my last hope,” Eames said, “I know you only ever want to drink your proper bloody chai, but don’t you think that a mistletoe blend for the holidays would be interesting?”</p><p>“Eames, are you harassing my customers?” Arthur said as he swept over with Yusuf’s pot of chai. </p><p>“I was just trying to see if anyone else thought it was a good idea to do seasonal tea blends, but everyone has become bloody boring,” Eames sulked. </p><p>“You didn’t say seasonal tea blends, you said mistletoe,” Arthur pointed out. </p><p>“It was just an example, I didn’t think the idea was that bad!” </p><p>“Eames, mistletoe is poisonous. I don’t think poison tea would go over very well with my customer base,” Arthur explained, realizing that Eames hadn’t understood the basis for his original objection. </p><p>“Well,” Yusuf interrupted, “some people do make a mistletoe tea for medicinal effects, so small amounts aren’t deadly, but I certainly wouldn’t recommend it to anyone. Even if it doesn't kill you, your guts are not likely to thank you.” </p><p>“Oh, that’s what Saito meant about liability,” Eames said, understanding breaking across his face. </p><p>“You can’t just pick plants associated with a holiday and make tea out of them,” Arthur laughed gently, “that would be a very good way to make yourself sick. Please promise me that you do not just eat random holiday plants.” Arthur looked at Eames with faux severity. “I’d love to brainstorm some ideas for seasonal blends with you, but with non-toxic ingredients only.” </p><p>“Fine, I suppose that’s fair,” Eames said, his mood lifted. </p><p>“What are you knitting?” Arthur asked, pointing to the new sock that Eames was working on.</p><p>“I may have been ever-so-slightly fixated,” Eames said as he held up the sock, which was half done, and had a textured pattern on the sole, pointing to the big toe. </p><p>“Oh my god, that’s terrible,” Arthur insisted as he got the pun. Eames had created a sock with a missile toe.</p>
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